Who Do You Trust?
“To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark — that is faith.” Charles H. Spurgeon
We sit on the eve of the 2022 election. By all reports, this is a wave year for the Republicans. The point isn’t the election. The point is the question. Who do you trust?
"'TRUST in the LORD...' ~ digital paint effect" by Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
If you live in any state with a contentious election, like Georgia, where I am, you are sick and tired of election ads. The radio mentioned this, and my son was in the kitchen when it did. He stopped what he was doing and said, “YES! PLEASE!” and yes, he said it in all caps. He then went on for five minutes about how he couldn’t watch his Minecraft videos on YouTube without them being interrupted by ads for one candidate or another. He is seventeen and not old enough to vote, but he already hates the ads. However, those ads aren’t the whole truth about any one candidate either, are they? Those ads are designed to do one thing: get the listener to vote a certain way. They use well-tested psychological ploys to move people to emotion and to vote the way they want. But can they be trusted, and how can we discern truth from lies here?
Having framed the question as I have with the leadoff about the election, everyone has polarized to one side or the other. That isn’t the point, either. As soon as the question was asked, everyone began thinking about who they would vote for over The Other Guy because “they can’t be trusted” but before we head down that road, let’s look at what scripture has to say about trust and what we can learn about figuring out who we can trust in something like the American election.
Where should we start with our trust? That one is easy. If you didn’t get it right off, here is a scripture from 2 Samuel that states it plainly.
31As for God, his way is perfect; The word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
2 Samuel 22:31 (KJV 1900)
We begin by trusting God. That means we can trust His ways, His Word, and His Son. From here, we stay in scripture with a Psalm.
3Trust in the Lord, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Psalm 37:3 (KJV 1900)
That tells us something we likely already knew trust God. Sure, that’s easy. God is good all the time, so He can be trusted, but God isn’t running for office. Fallible men and women are running for office, so how do we figure out which ones we should support? Let’s go back to God’s Word and see what we can find.
4Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Psalm 40:4 (KJV 1900)
This doesn’t really tell me who to vote for, does it? Well, not really, but with a little discernment and digging, it really does. Before we spring the lynchpin that hopefully sparks understanding, let’s add one more passage from the prophet Isaiah.
3Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, And the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Isaiah 30:3 (KJV 1900)
These passages of scripture don’t tell us who to vote for on the surface. These passages tell us how men and women act in society. A summary of these scriptures is as follows. If we trust God, He will make sure we have our needs met. He will bless people who trust Him instead of the proud and vain people who tell lies, but if we don’t trust him and rather trust worldly authority (Pharaoh), it will be our downfall.
That’s a simple way to live, but it still doesn’t tell us who to vote for. Except it does tell us who to vote for. This is why scripture as a whole is needed rather than cherry-picking single verses for things. Let’s look at a warning from Jeremiah and then reveal the gotcha verse.
8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 7:8–11 (KJV 1900)
Okay, I lied. Two verses from Jeremiah.
25This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Jeremiah 13:25 (KJV 1900)
Jeremiah has a recrimination for people who do not trust in God. He also lists things they are doing that God doesn’t like. Then, Jeremiah tells people who have forgotten to trust God that what they get is what they deserve because they’ve forgotten to trust God.
Here’s the important verse that pulls all this above into perspective. This last verse should sum it all up and help us understand how scripture does help us know who to vote for in any election.
15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matthew 7:15–17 (NASB95)
“You will know them by their fruits.” Simple. The people who trust God have good outcomes. The people who do not trust God do not have good outcomes. We should support those people who are children of God, but men and women can lie. Campaign ads have lies and the lie of omission in them all the time. How are we to know? “You will know them by their fruits.”
Do not look at what they are saying right now. Every politician is a politician, and their job this time of year is to get us to vote for them. They’ll do that any way they can because if they don’t get elected, they don’t get the power of the position. To that end, we should ignore what they are saying now and look at what they have done in their lives leading up to this point. Their past actions speak louder than their current words do.
This is where each Christian man or woman gets to use their best judgment and discernment. Should a candidate who did something horrible twenty years ago be held responsible today and lose votes? You decided. Do the candidates’ past actions in and out of the office align with what they say they will do? You decide. If those actions don’t line up, are they lying or telling the truth when they say, “I’ll never do that again” or “I promise I’ll do that if elected?” You decide.
This is where the individual is called to judge. Yes, as Christians, we are called to judge and use our judgment. This is one of those times. However, we are called to use our judgment in line with God’s Word. We are called to decide as if we were God deciding and make the same decision we believe He would make if He were standing in the voting booth with the ballot instead of us. The good news is whether you make the right or wrong choice is between you and God. The bad news is He knows the heart and what process each of us used to decide. The best advice I can give you at this late stage is to pray, read, and discern what you think is best.